Complaints/issues raised about Switch Mobility Metrodecker EV (electric bus) for routes 23, 134, 200 & C3
Request ID: FOI-3051-2223 Date published: 09 March 2023
You asked
Dear Transport for London FOI team
I'd like to obtain the number of complaints and/or issues raised about a specific electric bus type, which is the Metrodecker EV manufactured by Optare/Switch Mobility for routes 23, 134, 200 & C3.
The scope of my Freedom of Information request is to review the complaints about the design (including interior and exterior), accessibility, performance, and reliability involving the Switch Mobility Metrodecker EV, which is the make and model of that particular electric bus used on the routes mentioned above.
The date range for my request starts from 1 May 2022 to present day.
Thanks
We answered
TfL Ref: 3051-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 16 February 2023 asking for information about Metrodecker electric buses.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. You asked for:
the number of complaints and/or issues raised about a specific electric bus type, which is the Metrodecker EV manufactured by Optare/Switch Mobility for routes 23, 134, 200 & C3.
The scope of my Freedom of Information request is to review the complaints about the design (including interior and exterior), accessibility, performance, and reliability involving the Switch Mobility Metrodecker EV, which is the make and model of that particular electric bus used on the routes mentioned above.
The date range for my request starts from 1 May 2022 to present day.
I can confirm that we hold the information you require. However, we are refusing your request under section 14(1) of the Act. We can advise that we have received 277 complaints for the above date range concerning routes 23, 134, 200 and the C3, which would then need to be individually reviewed to determine whether they fall within the specific scope of your request and then suitably reviewed and redacted for the purposes of public disclosure, for instance to remove any and all instances of personal data.
We therefore consider that providing the requested information would place an unreasonable burden on TfL. Our principal duty is to provide an effective transport service for London and we consider that answering this request would represent a disproportionate effort. It would be a significant distraction from our work managing the TfL network, requiring re-allocation of already limited resources and placing an unacceptable burden on a small number of personnel.
We do wish to clarify that whilst we consider that your request falls under section 14(1) of the FOI Act, this does not reflect a conclusion that it has been your intention to deliberately place an undue burden on our resources.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance provides the following examples of a request which may fall under section 14(1):
- Imposes a burden by obliging the authority to sift through a substantial volume of information to isolate and extract the relevant details;
- Encompasses information which is only of limited value because of the wide scope of the request;
- Creates a burden by requiring the authority to spend a considerable amount of time considering any exemptions and redactions.
Our view is that all three of these examples apply in this instance. Therefore we are refusing your request under s.14 of the FOI Act. Whilst we recognise the requested information will be of interest to some people, we do not consider that the wider public interest is served by the diversion of resources that would be necessary to answer this request. If you would like to re-submit a more focused, specific request, for example by covering a smaller number of routes or a narrower timeframe, then we will of course consider it. If you have any personal concerns with this vehicle we would recommend submitting them via our contacts page, which you will find here: Help & contacts - Transport for London (tfl.gov.uk)
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Jasmine Howard FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
